Draft-key-retaining device



April 23, 1929. A. w. L. HARTBAUER 1,710,538

' DRAFT KEY RETAINING DEVICE Filed July 26, 192s 2 sheets-sheet l- April 23, 1929. A. w. L. HARTBAUER I y DRAFTKEY RETAINING DEVICE Filed July 26; 1926 2 Sheets-sheet 2 HJ... :NN

l C 1 f r 1 l l u Patented Apr. 23, 1929.A d

S.'i.Aresv reisst aueus'r w. L. HARTBAER, orcnicneo, :minors` naAFT-KnY-RETAINING 'envien .Application mea .my ae,

This invention rela-tes to a draft rigging, such as used on railway rolling stock and particularly to a vmeans lfor yretaining the draft keys used with v such draftrigging. Suchv a draft rigging in modern railway structures comprises a coupler extending into i `center Lsills at ithe' end-.of a railway car, said Ecoupler being connected' to .a-dra'ft yoke..

heavy key,passes-througlithe sill `casing and ,through openings inthe `coupler and yoke, thus conneetingthe lac-ter.together,v 4It has heretofore been a common practice to lhays a'retaining `nieans for these .draft keys, Acompri..sing iaf Cotter p'in 'extendingv through a .ertical ,v o'le in the draftkey at the exterior oftliesils.V

It is an object of this invention, therefore, 1.0 prprfle a .simple ,and efcieetd-raf 'key retaining Ineansmounted ,on the adapted 'normally to .ho-.1d .the key" intention, hilt being capable l,of inoyed ,out 'of alinementn withwthekey sotliat the key can be Irfeatlily Vwithdrarvn when desired."V

vrIt is a furtheifobject-"of'the inyention to.

V provide a .draft key i'etainingfnieans comprising .a'nieniber pivotedto lthe genteriorof y sills adapted n(irrnal'ly to lie in vfront ofi a.

keyyb'ut swingable out of alinernent .with the key. Y e f It still another object of theV invention .to draftkey retaining means comprising a ynkeV piyoted at iltsends'to'the'sill bracketa so 'secured @to .the sill.

vThese other objects and advantages ".invenizion 'will befully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, in'wwlhich likfereferlence characters refer to the saine rafts threadid@thediffrent Views. and in lis a yiew inside ,elevation of the front end .of a draft `rigging showing Athe i-nyention thereto;

and 'nor Aally llield 'in' desired position'by a @ated by the arse-Ws;

Fig. 2 s ,a in horizontal section taken substantially on line Q-Qfof Fig. 1 as indi-k isaa serial no. 25.081.

.the draft rigging for a railway car is shown, comprising the side sills 'G which, in the embodiment of the invention illustra-ted, vis shown as a channel member having its flanges directed outwardly. The end member of the sill isshown as 7 which member has'a flange 7a extending at :the outal side of the web of sill 6 andriveted thereto as shown the rivets 8, the flanges 6? being cnt .away at the forward end of sill 6 to accommodate the flange 7 a. The member 7 also has .spaced lugs 7'? vezztending `rearwardly from flange 7 a andalso riveted to the web. of 'sill v 6. Aportion of the yoke disposed within the xsill is shown in Fig. 2 in ydot-ted lines as 9 and the outer side of the coupler which is connected to the yoke Slis indicated in .dotted-lines as 10. A guide plate 11 is ydisposed at the inner .coupler 10 andthe yoke `9 have slots "extending transversely therethrough and 4a ldraft key 18 extends'through'the slots and formsa vconnectingmeans for the couplerand yoke. The key 13 also extends through :a slot 6C in embodiment of ,the invention illustrated,

' shown .as having a head 13 thereon.v 1 pair .of sill locating and securing angles are shown .as 14 in Fig. 1 which .extend transversely ,of .the draft rigging. i

tance from the flange 79,' said bracket 15- having spaced lugs V15a secured to sil- 1,6 by a pair of rivets 12.` Thebracket 15 has an loutwardly extending flange 15b and this flange and ange 7c are provided with'alined holes having a common horizontal axis, which holes receive the trunnions 16,a proj ecting at each end of a member or yoke shaped bracket y y1.6 which is thus pivotally mounted about a horizontal. axis in brackety 15 and fla-nge 7C.

central projecting re-'inforcing rib 16b on its outer side.r Bracket 15 is provided with f'a short, flange 15 at its bottom, projecting'.r

shownin Figs. 1 and 3 thebuter side of yoker 16 is disposed in alinement with the head 13L the side of the sill ,6 and said key is in the In accordance withy the present invention,

The kyoke 16 is U shaped in plan, having a of the key 13 and in close proximity t0 the l :cuter side of said head. The yoke 16 as ivi 24. and coupler v have slots therethrough,`

this key outwardly is prevented. VIfit is -desired to remove or insert the key, yoke i6 is swung upwardly outI of the way and the f vkey can thus be drawn out or inserted endwise. Inward movementof the key 13 is limited by the head 13a which cannot pass through the slots 6c in the sill 6. While the yoke illustrated in Fig. 2 is of the form commonly called a verticalyoke, having a single key therein, itlwill be apparent that the structure would serve equally well with the horizontal. type of yoke.

In Figs. l and 5 the invention is shown applied to the horizontal type of yoke and to acoupler-and yoke'having two draft keys therein. ln these figures' the side sill is shown as 20, the same being formed of standard channel., having the top and'bottom flanges 20a. The end sill plate is shown as 2l, secured to the inner sides of the sill 20r and the carrier plate 22 is shown at the bottom of sill 2O at the front thereof. The usual cheek plate 23 is secured t-o the outer side of the sill 20, which plate, together with the sill, has elongated slots 23a extending therethrough. A portion of the yoke of the draft rigging .is shown at 24 which is connected to the coupler 25, a portion of which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The yoke through which pass the connecting draft keys 26, the draft rigging illustrated being of the double keytype. Keys 26 project outward through the sill and cheek plates outer ends outward of said cheek plates,

which heads are similar in shape to thosel shown for the key 13' in Figs. 2 and 3. An angle shaped bracket 27 is secured at the forward end ot the cheek plate 23 and by one of the rivets 20a which connects the cheek plato tothe sill, said bracket havingan outwardly extending flange 27L and afhorizontally extending flange 27" at its lower side.

Another angle shaped bracket 29 is secured adjacent the other end of the 'cheek plate 23 by one of the rivets 2 0u which connect the cheek plaie to the sill. Bracket 29 has an` outwardly projecting liange 29 and this flange and fiango 27a are provided with holes disposed about a common horizontal axis. A yoke shaped bracket or member has trunnions 30nu projecting at each end pivotally mounted. in the holes in flanges 27 and 22; and are provided with heads 26a at theirV 29e. Yoko 30 is U shaped in 'plan and has a re-inforcing rib 30h projecting outwardly therefrom at its front side. As shown in the outer side y,of the yoke is in alinem-ent with the heads 26 of the keys 26. The yoke 30 is normally positioned with its lower side resting on the flange 2l'b and said yoke can be swung ujiiwardly about its trunnionsso as to be out of alinement, with heads 26a ot' keys 26. f'

In. operationthe yoke 30 normally rests on fiange27l of bracket 27 and is held in this position by gravity.

ment.` `The keys are also held from any Excessive outwardV movement of the keys 26 is thus prevented,

movement inwardly by the heads 26aV engag-v t ing the outer side ofthe cheek plate'23. The keys therefore cannot work out endwise, and cause trouble. Vhen' it is'desired to remove or replace the keys, the yoke 30 canbe swung upwardly and thekeys can-'thus bedrawn out of or inserted through the slots in the sill 20, cheek plate 23 andpin the yoke and coupler. f

From the above description it will be seen thatl applicant has provided,V a very simple and effective key retaining. means. `The parts are permanently carried on the sill and are normally in key retaining position. It is a simple andv easy matter to remove and insert the keys. The device is quite easily and inexpensively made andv installed on a car. The same vhas been amply demonstrated and'found to be very successfuland eflicient. i i

It will, of coursebe understoodvthat vas consists in a device capableof carrying outV the objects above set forthsuch as shown and described and claims.

defined in the appended What is claimed is: l i

l. A draft rigging comprising a sill, a

yoke, a coupler, a key connecting said yokel and coupler and having a yoke pivotally connccted to said sill and normally disposedin front of said key and meanscarried by said sill for holding said yoke in key retaining., position, said yoke being swingable to permit removal of'said key.` A

2. A draft rigging comprising a sill', a yoke, a coupler, akey connecting said yoke and .coupler and projecting through 'said sill, brackets carried by said sill, amember pivotally mounted in said'braokets abouta horizontal axis extending longitudinally'of said sill and vdisposedin yfront lof said key to prevent excessive endwise movement thereof, and means carried byone, of said brackets on which said member rests.

3. A draft rigging comprising a sill, a yoke, a coupler, a draft key connecting said yoke and coupler and projecting through said sill, said key having a head thereon disposed outvvard of said sill and preventing inward movement of said key, and means svvingable about a horizontal axis'tending longitudinally of said sill normally disposed in front of said key, preventing'outward movement` of said key but swingable'up- Wardly to a position out of alinement With said key to permit Withdrawal ofsaid key.

4. draft rigging comprising a sill, a

end of said key carried by said sill, a yokev having trunnions'at its 'ends respectively journaled in Said brackets, means'supportin'g lsaid yoke in position in front oli-said key so as-to prevent lengthwise movement thereof,

said yoke being sivingable upwardly toperf mit removal ofsaid key. y y

In test-imonyvvhereof I aiiiX my Signature'.

AUGUST W. L. Hiiirrieumir.` 

